FAMILY ARRIVED

 The family arrived. I went over to meet them at an historical location. We did an audio tour and walked, and walked and walked. Part of it was my fault. I miscalculated how far it was from the historical location to the restaurant I thought they would like. It was far. I walked more than 10k steps today. 

It was fun to see the historical location and I learned a lot. 

Now that I am back home, I am so tired and this will be brief. 

Update on Lucky's day: Lucky went to the park with the dog walker. I thought he was going to just let her outside when he came but he took her the park with the other dogs. She walked for 1 hour and then he had her rest. He said she wanted to walk more. That is a good sign! She is sound asleep right now but wanted to play earlier but I needed to get some work accomplished. 

That was the day. Tomorrow we are going to meet at my place and then go to a park. We may take Lucky.

Until tomorrow...

ONE DAY UNTIL FAMILY

 Today was all about the final clean up. The gardener came and cleared up the backyard because contractors are messy. There was all sorts of stuff in the backyard as well as sawdust from all the wood they cut. He took out the dead plant that the contractor stepped on, weeded and basically jujed (sp?) the back yard. It looks fantastic. I didn't take out the chairs and umbrella because it has been raining a bit in the mornings. 

I am excited to see my relatives and do fun things. Tomorrow we go on a boat ride.I already organized transportation and the dog walker to come by and let her out. 

I had these rings that I wanted to wear but my fingers have gotten slimmer. I put them away for 15 years and this week I decided to take them out and wear them. I thought it was a waste to have rings in storage. They were still too big but I found these clear ring sizers and now they fit great. Amazing how a $10 item can make my rings fit and now I can wear them!

I am going to get a good night sleep since I have to get up early to meditate. 

Until tomorrow...

A DAY OF REST

Today was a day of rest. I worked hard all week and I was tired. I got up early because the construction guys were supposed to come. Instead, the contractor came by to check everything. He says they are coming on Wednesday to finish up. 

I hung a few pictures and put up the dart board. I put together the fire pit. Then I sat down to read my homework. I am very far behind in my reading so I need to catch up. It is very boring information so I keep falling asleep. 

I need to get some sleep.

Until tomorrow...

CLEANERS & CONTRACTORS

I will be swift. I had a busy day. First thing in the morning the contractors arrive with the stair guy in tow. I almost immediately had to take Lucky to the vet to get a pedicure and annual shots. 

While I was gone they started putting in the stairs. Bamboo stairs have changed and now there is an overlay with the part that goes over the stair edge. I am not sure I like it but I plan on putting rug pieces there anyway so it won't be noticable. 

Then right on time the cleaners come. I don't know what I expected but I am in a bed with fresh sheets that feel so good. They worked for 4 hours. Everything looks shiny. Even my floors, I think they polished them! 

The best thing is that they cleaned my old Wedgewood stove. It actually shines now. Someone put in some elbow grease. 

After they left the owner texted me that the two cleaners said I was SO nice and he said he would charge me less than quoted if I want them to clean again. They were a sweet married couple. 

Noe I don't want to mess anything up, it is so beautiful. Seriously, it would have taken me a week to clean it and it would not have turned out nearly as good. 

I need some sleep after last night. I was woken up at 4 am and could not get back to sleep because I had a headache. 

Until tomorrow...

FINAL DAY UNTIL CLEANERS

I'm sure to you this is boring but to me, cleaning out my home is revitalizing! Tonight was trash night and both my recycle bin and trash bin are overflowing. I can walk around my office without tripping on something. My living room is so organized I have space to do tai chi now. Everything seems lighter. 

Of course I could practice tai chi but my Chrome Cast stopped working. Erg...

I went to accupuncture and after the needles were put in, I fell asleep. I had weird dreams. I hear this is common.

I have one more morning of decluttering until the cleaning people come. I can't wait to have a sparkling clean house. 

Until tomorrow...

MBSR #4

I woke up early to go to Tai Chi. I recorded the instructor so I can practice correctly. He seemed frustrated that I did not practice. I need to commit to the practice sessions since he is volunteering to help me. 

 I am moving out more stuff. Today I took a huge bag of pills to a drop-off center. I am sure you know that putting old medications into the water system is causing problems for fish, tadpoles, frogs, etc. Not to mention our drinking water. I had a gallon plastic bag of old, unused medications to put in the drop box. I still have liquid, inhalers and lotions to get rid of. I need to find a location. 

I spent the rest of the day finishing the clearing out of my office. Once I had that finished, I worked on my bedroom and bathroom. Then I started on my living room. In my living room I still had old Christmas and birthday cards on a shelf. I am embarrassed to stay how many years worth but it was since Christmas 2019. I was just stacking them and thinking I would go through them and I never did. Yes, they were opened but I want to make sure I have the person's newest address and maybe there is something nice someone said. They are all gone now except the super nice ones. 

I have one full day and one partial day to finish the clearing out before the cleaning team comes. 

Today in the MBSR course we practiced meditative walking. It is a type of really slow and intentional walking. I think I do it by accident while I walk Lucky uphill. She goes very slow uphill these days. Super fast downhill and on flat areas. 

After writing my post last night I got a phone call on my cellphone. It was the second call that I received that dropped in the middle of the call. I could not call the person back because the phone was acting weird. I called the carrier and got tech support. The very nice woman figured out the problem and fixed the phone. It turns out that when it was sent to me, there was a button not checked and it was making the phone only work on the cell tower I was nearest. So when I was at the park with Lucky, the phone found that cell tower. It didn't switch to my cell tower so when I was on the phone, the phone was confused. The woman from the carrier fixed it and now the phone works fine. Phew!

Until tomorrow...

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

While many of you celebrated the 4th of July with family or a barbecue, I celebrated by doing more cleaning mostly the grill. Then I went to Warby Parker to get my glasses adjusted and then took Lucky to the park. At the park we saw people hang gliding and some other firm of flying through the air. It was amazing to see people fly over your head.

I wish you could have seen the grill grates before I cleaned them. They were so rusty and gross looking, but now they look amazing. Tiny bit of rest still is there but overall I am shocked by how great they look. I cleaned off the whole inside and outside of the grill so we can barbecue next week.

I really should have done more but after washing the grill grates, paying bills, writing a card to my friend, washing the dishes and putting things away, I was bushed. Then I took the dog to the park so when I came home I just wanted to sit on the couch.

I watched a movie called Book Club 2. It was okay but I really liked the original Book Club. 

I hope you had a marvelous Independence Day filled with good food, fantastic friends/family and decent fireworks/lasers. 

THE CONTRACTORS RETURN

 The contractor’s guys showed up after back and forth texts with the contractor. He says he is stuck in South America taking care of a family emergency. I saw him on video and he looked like he was at a resort. He had a Hawaiian shirt on and he showed me how he can pick coconuts from a short tree. He says he will be back on Saturday. 

His guys brought the new flooring and ripped up the existing floor on the stairs. I can no longer go downstairs inside. I have to go outside to get downstairs. This arrangement happened so quickly that I didn’t get a chance to carry all the things I needed to downstairs. They say it will be completed on Saturday. I still won’t have a deck but the inside will be done. 

Meanwhile I have been busy. I finalized my trip to the East Coast. I contacted a friend in the northwest and arranged a weekend with her. Now I have something to do each month: July, August, September and October. 

I worked more on my home. A bit in my office, some downstairs. I had the guys carry my new eucalyptus wood table set downstairs. I also had them look at my grill. When they stacked the pieces of the deck, they rolled over against my grill and pushed the propane tank. I don’t need to cook my veggie burger and have the grill blow up in my face! I carried a bunch of stuff downstairs mostly to give away. 

Until tomorrow…

I FINISHED THE PUZZLE!

 Today I cleaned my outdoor furniture. The coffee table looks great but the chairs did not come out as good as I thought they would. Then I cleaned my "vegan" grill and started to clean the "meat" grill. The meat grill has not been used for 4 years but I had it covered so it is in very good condition. The grates have a little rust on them but I googled how to clean them and that will be my July 4th project. 

Then I worked on the 1,500 piece puzzle. I FINISHED IT! I really pushed and got it done.

So, the table is gone from my living room and I now have more room for my meditation area. 

Then I decided to book a trip to see family. It is a necessary quick trip. 

I was exhausted then the contractor texts me that he is still in Central America. The house will not be completed before my relatives come visit next week. 😒 He is going to send a guy over to move the deck pieces out of the backyard seating area. I am hoping I can bribe the guy to help me move my new table into the backyard. 

Until tomorrow...

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT IS JULY?

 I can't believe it is July already. Remember two years ago when time seemed to stand still? This year seems to be flying by. Today is a very hot day. I saw the thermostat and it was around 85 degrees. So hot!

I cleaned out 4 boxes of papers and junk. I worked for 4 hours. It was dusty and tedious but I feel about 20 pounds lighter. I am determined that when the cleaning crew comes my house will be picked up. 

Then I took my food photos and put them in frames. I took out the old photos and put them aside. I may put a few of them in other places in the home. I am hoping the contractor will hang them for me. 

Now I am resting after a very productive day. I decided to celebrate the work getting done, I ordered a vegan pizza and mozzarella sticks. My tummy is full.

I talked to a relative about going to visit them in a month. It will only be a few days. 

Until tomorrow...